The MSA Research and Intelligence Analysis (RIA) Group yesterday reported that the investigation stemming from the arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the two brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon explosions last week, has indicated that they had additional plans to attack Times Square in New York City. Details are continuing to emerge, but reportedly the plan was crafted spontaneously in the aftermath of the Boston bombing, possibly as the brothers tried to escape from police in a hijacked car.
In news related to the Boston Marathon attack, MSA Security was recently featured in a NY1 news story after crafting a mock-up of the pressure cookers that exploded at the marathon last week. MSA showed the replica device to current and prospective clients, as NY1 reported. Michael O'Neil, MSA President and former First Commanding Officer of the NYPD Counterterrorism Division, underscored the fact that no matter how great security is, the best terrorism detectors are aware citizens. "At noon on any given day in New York City, you could have 12 million people. If you feel they are all engaged and informed about the threat, think about that as a force multiplier of people looking for that threat," Mr. O'Neil said.
In other news related to explosives and terrorism-related security measures, the UK's Mail Online recently reported that a so-called conman put "thousands of lives at risk" by selling fake bomb detectors, pocketing £50million "by selling the plastic objects based on novelty golf ball finders to security forces." The stunt highlights yet again the fact that bomb dogs have been shown to outperform technology on various fronts in the explosives-detection arena.